hness, clearness, and precision,
it far surpasses all of them in euphony. The Servian has often been
called the _Italian_ among the other Slavic idioms. Comparisons of
this sort are always superficial, and tend to give a false view of the
character of an object. Be this as it may, the Servian is decidedly
the most melodious of the Slavic languages, rich in vowels, and
abounding alike in soft and powerful accents. The accumulation of
consonants, with which the other dialects are so often reproached, is
rarely, if ever, to be met with in Servian. The reader may compare the
Servian _wetar_ with _wjtr_, _krilo_ with _krzydlo_ or _skrzydlo, pao_
with _padl_, etc. Those who ascribe this mildness of the Servian
language to the Italian neighbourhood of Dalmatia, forget that the
eastern Servians are remote from Italy. It is true that the dialects
of these latter are at the same time full of Turcisms; but these are
mere excrescences, which may easily be removed without touching the
essential structure of the language. The Turkish words adopted into
the Servian, are mostly nouns, and verbs derived from them; and may
naturally be explained by their political relation to the Turks during
so many centuries. If we may confide in a remark of the profound
philologist J. Grimm, _some_ foreign ingredients are useful and even
necessary to languages. They act as a cement, and fill up gaps; nay,
they not seldom serve to give to the expression colouring and pliancy.
The attention of the civilized world, although directed at the
beginning of the present century to the Servians and their heroic
struggles, has only recently been excited in respect to their
language; and this through the efforts of a single individual. We
shall have more to say on this point in the section devoted to the
literature of the Servians of the eastern church.

The ancient Illyricum comprised all the countries situated between the
Adriatic and the Black Sea, and along the Danube and Save.[2]
Towards the middle of the seventh century, we find this vast country
mostly occupied by a Slavic people of one and the same race,
alternately called Bulgarians, Croatians, and Servians. We find also
six kingdoms gradually established by them: Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia
(Rama), Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia; some of them powerful and of
great influence in their time, but now and long since sunk into ruin,
and existing only as Turkish or Austrian provinces. An impenetrable
night rest